Franklin County to get two new police cruisers

FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted Monday to accept two new police cruiser bids from Quirk Ford in Augusta for $42,721, after factoring a trade-in value of $20,300.

Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said they received bids from two dealerships. Commissioners opened them at the meeting.

The cruisers to be traded in are a 2010 pickup truck and a 2012 Ford Explorer.

Quirk’s bids included a 2016 Ford Expedition with a long wheel base for $35,982 and a 2016 Ford Interceptor Explorer for $27,039, Deputy Clerk/Deputy Treasurer Vickie Brailey said after the meeting.

During the meeting, Nichols told commissioners that the Expedition was needed because Cpl. Nate Bean, a K-9 training instructor, has a lot of equipment.

Nichols has $60,000 in his budget for purchasing and outfitting cruisers. Initially he requested $90,000 in the budget to replace three cruisers, but $30,000 was cut from the budget by the Franklin County Budget Advisory Committee.

The second bidder was Farmington Ford, which did not have an Expedition with a long wheel base, Brailey said. It also offered less of a trade-in of $16,500, she said.

Commissioners also accepted a bid of $8,227 from Maine Roof Solutions of Madison to build a small A-style roof extension over the main exterior door of the Sheriff’s Office. A small roof over the door came off last winter. Standard seam metal roofing will be used.

The other bidder was from Baker Hill Builders of Freeman Township for $7,766. Baker Hill Builders planned to use Maine Roof Solutions and the county would have to pay two contractors.

Commissioners decided to work with just one contractor rather than pay two.

“Either way we are going to get a quality job,” county Facility Manager Greg Roux said.

The money will have to come out of the sheriff’s operating budget because there is only $56 left in the building account, Clerk Julie Magoon said.

Nichols also told commissioners that the Maine Sheriffs’ Association is trying to come up with a fair rate to board prisoners from other counties. The jail has a capacity of 38 inmates and on average has 32 per month. They could take two out-of-county prisoners a month, he said.

He and another sheriff came up with a rate of $50 a prisoner per day. It comes out to $36,000 a year in revenue, he said.

New Franklin County Commissioner Charles “Charlie” Webster of Farmington, center, attended his first commission meeting Monday with Chairman Gary McGrane of Jay, left, and Commissioner Clyde Barker of Strong, right. Gov. Paul LePage appointed Webster Aug. 7 to fill the District 2 seat after Fred Hardy of New Sharon died July 4.

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